Bon soir, Monsieur," she said, and she walked up to bed with a
characteristic lack of pause or hesitation.

Maurice woke up--was woken up--knowing that he had something to look
forward to. Sleepily he wondered what it was while patterns spread over
his semi-consciousness--dreamily he saw Marthe in a filmy lace dress
over black and he felt himself trying to play on a grand piano, every
note of which was a sea anemone. Then he woke up completely, and with a
delightful rush he remembered Madame and all of the marvellous things
that she had told him and all of the significant things he had not yet
said to her.

He walked down to breakfast whistling. In the courtyard he patted the
dog and lifted the patron's son on to his shoulder, then he asked the
patronne if the cook had a name and whether he might some day come and
watch her churn butter. In the dining room he praised the coffee, and
admired the geraniums. St. Jean-les-Flots must have a particularly fine
soil for geraniums, and what air! Why, he felt a different man already.

Madame Marly--he had discovered her name--did not appear till lunch.
They bowed to one another, and each talked a little to the waiter. It
was delightful to keep their pleasure at arm's length. Coffee on the
terrace brought them together.

"You are right," she said, "the country is an impossible place. It makes
one talk."

"I love the country," he said.

"And then the sea. It is always going on without you."

"I have a passion for the sea," he murmured.

"I would like to wring the neck of the cook, chloroform the dog, buy
Marie Aimee some lawn tennis shoes, and have a daily box of flowers from
Paris."

"They shall be ordered at once."

"I should also like," she was looking out to sea, "to fill the hotel
with people."

"You flatter me," he murmured.

"Perhaps," she added, "it would be simpler to go away."

"Simpler but impossible."

"Why impossible?"

"The air is unique. The Hotel Bungalow...."

"Please don't," she begged.

"Besides, for the first time in my life I am becoming discreet."

"Ah, no, my friend, believe me. It was merely that you, too, found it
difficult to interrupt."

"I did not want to interrupt."

"There you had an advantage over me. I was longing to bring your
remarks about the sea to an untimely end."

Her laugh was the most confidential thing in the world. You felt as if
she had given you an unlimited credit of intimacy. He thought that she
was looking